Story highlights

China has been a target during Donald Trump's presidential primary campaign

After months of restraint, editorial in Chinese state media derides Trump

Trump has also drawn the ire of Chinese dissidents

Hong Kong (CNN)For months,Republican frontrunnerDonald Trump has repeatedly targeted China on the campaign trail, pledging to put tariffs on goods produced overseas and bring things like iPhone production back to the United States.

The Global Times claims Trump was initially supposed to "act as a clown to attract more voters for GOP." Instead, it goes on to imply that the Republican party lost control of Trump -- who has now become the party's worst nightmare.

Mussolini, Hitler, Trump?

The editorial also uses Trump's political rise to highlight America's decline and the failings of democracy, saying: "Mussolini and Hitler came to power through elections, a heavy lesson for Western democracy."

In its final paragraph, the Global Times warns that the United States should watch itself from becoming a global destructive force before pointing fingers at China for its "so-called nationalism and tyranny."

While a Communist Party mouthpiece uses the rise of Trump to condemn both him and Western-style democracy, survivors of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown have quoted Trump to condemn his failure to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party.

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Since those comments, Chinese dissidents have lined up to condemn him for supporting the bloody crackdown and to demand an apology.

In an article for TIME magazine, 1989 student protest leader Wang Dan denounces Trump for using the same language as the Communist Party.

"I am disappointed by and angry at Mr. Trump's words," he writes. "If a bloody repression can be praised as a 'strong, powerful' action, what does this mean about American values, especially when this blatant mischaracterization comes from a presidential candidate?"

Freedom fighter fears Trump

Fellow Tiananmen protest leader Wu'er Kaixi turned to Facebook to describe Trump as "an enemy of the values that America deeply defines itself by -- the same values that have long provided hope to the victims of oppressive power worldwide."

Forced to live in Japan for his own safety, the cartoonist is well known for skewering China's elite.

In a cartoon released this week on his Twitter feed addressed simply "to Trump," Rebel Pepper portrays the American candidate as a tank commander brutally mowing down and crushing a protester while declaring, "This is the best thing we imported from China."

Poker face?

Trump's controversial remarks on China's past and present are no longer being ignored by China's dissidents or political establishment.

And yet despite his relentless attacks and steady political advance, Chinese premier Li Keqiang says relations between the U.S. and China will continue to develop no matter who wins the presidential race.